Like millions of people around the world, Stuart was saddened to hear of Mandela’s death last Thursday at the age of 95.

And he paid tribute to the man who spent 27-years in prison but helped bring down the racist apartheid system in South Africa.

He said: “I think he was one of the greatest statesmen of the 20th Century.

“It’s when you read his autobiography, you realise he was married in 1948, he had a long-life, with 27 years spent in jail.

“I remember sitting in the abbey at Iona and praying for him. It seemed in the early 1980’s (him being freed) was the impossible dream.

“I find it incredible I actually met the man, to meet one of the most inspirational figures of the 20th Century.

“Not just to shake his hand, but to sit and converse with him and listen to him for three days, you just cannot buy that.

“It was one of those unique experiences that comes once in a lifetime.”

Looking back on Mandela’s visit to Glasgow, Stuart remembers his humility, his gracefulness and also his sense of humour.

“It was terrific to meet him, spend those three days with him and go everywhere with him,” said Stuart.

“He had a wonderful sense of humour, even after everything that had happened. “He did a wonderful impersonation of Mrs Thatcher. I asked him what she was like. Of course, I was hoping he’d say she was a horrible person, but he said she was a lovely woman who had been motherly towards him and then started mimicking her voice.

“We talked about various things along with politics. He was very knowledgeable about football and knew about Rangers and Celtic, although it would be unfair to say he supported one over the other.

“He was quite an imposing figure but he oozed grace.

“When he arrived in Glasgow he had just been to Vienna I think. The idea was to take him to the Hilton Hotel and I had arranged for a piper to greet him. As soon as the piper started the whole thing came to life and about 300 people seemed to appear from nowhere.

“They all gathered round him and were applauding him. Special branch were going nuts of course. Someone handed over their child and he held it, which was lovely.”

One of Stuart’s most prized possession is one of three posters signed by Mandela before he left Scotland.

It reads: “To Stuart, compliments and best wishes to a committed defender of democratic values throughout the world,” and now takes pride of place in his University of Glasgow office, where he is the official chaplain.

A former Labour councillor in the Glasgow District, Stuart was a leading light behind the move to give Mandela the freedom of the city and re-name St George’s Place, Nelson Mandela Place.

These moves went a long way to highlighting the anti-apartheid struggle and bring pressure on the South African Government to free Mandela from his prison cell.

Speaking about the lead up to his release and the end of apartheid which eventually led to free elections in 1994, Stuart said: “South Africa was becoming more isolated and the exclusion from sporting and cultural events began to take its toll.

“When South Africans came to Europe, it was quite a shock to them that people disliked them. They had been given the message that what they were doing was because they were God’s people.

“But when they came to Europe, America and Australia, places like that, people told them they were not wanted. That began to batter through to people in South Africa.

“I don’t think (F.W.) de Klerk ever got the recognition he ever deserved. It was a huge, huge step getting his own party to back him.

“Even at that time I remember a Conservative councillor in Glasgow referring to Mandela as a ‘terrorist’. There were strong debates over whether the Scottish Rugby Union should tour South Africa and the councillor said Mandela and the ANC were terrorists. This was only three years before he was released. “It was never an easy thing.

“Great credit must go to the people who, week after week, stood outside South Africa House in Glasgow with their placards. That was a huge thing.”

A memorial service yesterday (Tuesday) to honour Mandela - affectionately known as his traditional clan name, Madiba by South Africans - was attended by 95,000 people, including over 90 heads of state.

The service was held at the at the FNB Stadium in Soweto where he made his final public appearance at the 2010 World Cup.

His body will lie in state in Pretoria from today (Wednesday) until Friday before it is taken to his home village of Qunu for a traditional funeral on Saturday (December14).